Vibrant colours flow from a light to dark hues with occasional lines impeding the intermingling of shades. Exhibiting the use of contrasting primary colours and abstract landscapes in neutrals with mixed media on canvas, artist Amrish Malvankar’s paintings speak to you.
Showcasing his collection at an exhibition at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath recently, the artist talks about the experiences he goes through while he paints.
“Generally when I design or paint it’s just my interaction with emotions. There are all sorts of moods. I work with vibrant reds, blues and then there are neutrals as well,” he says. “So when you look at the paintings, it should appeal to your emotions. How it reacts with the audiences in various ways when they observe it is important for me. However, when you move far away from the paintings, you see a balanced composition of colours. That’s how I work with my paintings.”
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His journey as an artist began when he was young. Growing up in a family where his aunt is a charcoal artist, Amrish received a supportive environment.
“I started drawing and painting when I was a kid. My father encouraged me to experiment with various mediums, taking me for different competitions. Even my school teachers were supportive.”
However, he could not pursue fine arts in college due to societal and family pressure. “I always wanted to do art but it was not an option for me. So I chose the next best thing and got admission at Sir J.J. College of Architecture. The fine arts building was right next to the architecture building, so after college hours, I would learn from my fine arts friends and regularly attend art exhibitions.”
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An architect by profession, Amrish accepts that it definitely reflects in his paintings. “I have observed that I generally stick to certain forms. Even in free hand there will be some defining elements and structure. Usually it is some primary form that I seem to work upon like circles, triangles, squares and basic lines. Composing and balancing a picture – that’s where my architectural training comes in handy.”
He elaborates: “I have done a lot of fine ink work as well. I have done cityscapes on large scale paintings such that people identify that I must be an architect. Identify-able traces automatically creep in. It’s my five years of training and 10 years of practice. It’s not going to leave me,” he adds with a laugh.
An instinctive painter, Amrish gives his finesse due time in creating the soulful paintings. “Sometimes when I watch TV, I place three simultaneous canvases in the room. As and when something clicks I immediately start working on them. It can take me anywhere from 15-20 days to three months. Sometimes I’m stuck on a painting for months and I don’t know how to go ahead with it,” he says. When asked how he knows when a painting is complete he admits it’s a difficult question to answer.
“You see this painting,” he says pointing at a seven by three feet mixed media piece. “I can always do more. However, at this stage it’s finished. It’s perfectly balanced: the colours, mood, and detailing. But if I sit and think over it, I can still work on it. It will never end.”
On the collection on display, Amrish says: “It definitely has more of my architectural touch then any other. All of them have form, structure and the balance of colours - the kind of hues I’m going through. There is almost no figurative work at all this time as well although one might find an occasional nature element like an outline of a leaf somewhere.”